A Sikh Prayer Offered With Humility
A prayer is a submission. It is an offering in humility and complete surrender, expressing titude and love. It is verily a whisper m the soul. It reaches out like the hoof a child who puts his hand into toff hisparent and wills to be led. A yer must 'know' the One Being yed to. In whose hands are we placing -s? Whom do we trust to lead us? Often our prayers and conversations h the Divine are requests for ething. Generally, our attention is ussed on defining what we want er than in knowing the Recipient of prayers. This is akin to writing a letter knowing neither the receiver his address. More importantly, prayer has to be en withthe fabric of faith. In short, need to know how to pray. And this earn through a beautiful, spontaneous outpouring of Guru Arjan Dev, Tu ohakuru time pagi ara asi, which forms the last part of the fourth stanza of his famed composition, the Sukhyam Sahib. Aras means prayer, or prarthana. It is to connect with the Supreme. We pray in order to achieve through that Higher Power what we cannot achieve by ourselves, the limited beings we imagine ourselves to be. Each of us is born with certain abilities and also with some limitations. We then become bound by these self-imposed concepts-like the thought, "I am the body." Prayer is the way to remove these misconceptions and their hold over us. It is the direct route to tap into the Higher Power. When we forget the very source of all, then ego, pride and arrogance come into our lives and create a sense of separateness. From the sense of separateness arises a feeling of incompleteness, followed by desire and hatred; and from hatred are born all our sorrows. When we remember that everything we have has come from the Divine, there will be no ego. Where there is no ego, there is no sorrow. Even at moments of crisis, we should rejoice at all our blessings. When we remember God and offer our prayers from the innermost depths of our hearts, it is ardas. This is the best way to express our love for God. In this inspiring ardas, Guru Arjan Dev shows us how to pray. To ohakuru is a submission that is done after worship and kirtan at the Gurdwara. The moment of ardas is also when wesubmit ourselves to the Divine,when after the earlier worship through ritual or chant, we prepare tounite with Him in surrender. This beautifully simple ardas constructs aninner environment with the bricks of prayer, gratitude and surrender, founded on the faith that He is the giver provider, parent, and that we need work only as instruments do, with unconditional trust and devotion. In the last line Guru Arjan Dev payshomage to Guru Nanak Devji and to thetradition of the Guru-parampara, through which the disciple acknowledges his indebtedness to his Guru and to the source of all wisdomnone other than the Master (Tu ohakuruacknowledged in thefirst line. Swami Swaroopananda, recently appointed worldwide head of ChinmayMission, will give discourses on Upadesh Sara and Meditation from Guru Granth Sahib from Feb 13-18 at Chinmaya Mission, 89 Lodi Road.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Swami Swaroopananda and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Swami Swaroopananda and Speaking Tree,Times of India
A Sikh Prayer Offered With Humility
A prayer is a submission. It is an offering in humility and complete surrender, expressing titude and love. It is verily a whisper m the soul. It reaches out like the hoof a child who puts his hand into toff hisparent and wills to be led. A yer must 'know' the One Being yed to. In whose hands are we placing -s? Whom do we trust to lead us? Often our prayers and conversations h the Divine are requests for ething. Generally, our attention is ussed on defining what we want er than in knowing the Recipient of prayers. This is akin to writing a letter knowing neither the receiver his address. More importantly, prayer has to be en withthe fabric of faith. In short, need to know how to pray. And this earn through a beautiful, spontaneous outpouring of Guru Arjan Dev, Tu ohakuru time pagi ara asi, which forms the last part of the fourth stanza of his famed composition, the Sukhyam Sahib. Aras means prayer, or prarthana. It is to connect with the Supreme. We pray in order to achieve through that Higher Power what we cannot achieve by ourselves, the limited beings we imagine ourselves to be. Each of us is born with certain abilities and also with some limitations. We then become bound by these self-imposed concepts-like the thought, "I am the body." Prayer is the way to remove these misconceptions and their hold over us. It is the direct route to tap into the Higher Power. When we forget the very source of all, then ego, pride and arrogance come into our lives and create a sense of separateness. From the sense of separateness arises a feeling of incompleteness, followed by desire and hatred; and from hatred are born all our sorrows. When we remember that everything we have has come from the Divine, there will be no ego. Where there is no ego, there is no sorrow. Even at moments of crisis, we should rejoice at all our blessings. When we remember God and offer our prayers from the innermost depths of our hearts, it is ardas. This is the best way to express our love for God. In this inspiring ardas, Guru Arjan Dev shows us how to pray. To ohakuru is a submission that is done after worship and kirtan at the Gurdwara. The moment of ardas is also when wesubmit ourselves to the Divine,when after the earlier worship through ritual or chant, we prepare tounite with Him in surrender. This beautifully simple ardas constructs aninner environment with the bricks of prayer, gratitude and surrender, founded on the faith that He is the giver provider, parent, and that we need work only as instruments do, with unconditional trust and devotion. In the last line Guru Arjan Dev payshomage to Guru Nanak Devji and to thetradition of the Guru-parampara, through which the disciple acknowledges his indebtedness to his Guru and to the source of all wisdomnone other than the Master (Tu ohakuruacknowledged in thefirst line. Swami Swaroopananda, recently appointed worldwide head of ChinmayMission, will give discourses on Upadesh Sara and Meditation from Guru Granth Sahib from Feb 13-18 at Chinmaya Mission, 89 Lodi Road.
DISCLAIMER:
The views expressed in the Article above are Swami Swaroopananda and kashmiribhatta.in is not in any way responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article. The article belongs to its respective owner or owners and this site does not claim any right over it.
Courtesy: Swami Swaroopananda and Speaking Tree,Times of India